100 Very Best Restaurant 2016: Vin 909 Winecafe

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If you came only for the pizzas, you’d leave happy. Unlike most boutique pies in the area, these are cooked in a brick oven and topped with a hand more indulgent than judicious. With crusts this good, you can feel confident in trying a combination that lesser places could never pull off—say, foie gras and truffles. Small plates are just as worthy: Chef Justin Moore has a keen imagination and a refined palate, and the selections on this menu-within-the-menu—a soft mound of mozzarella with gelatin-molded pearls of balsamic vinegar, a plate of gorgeously fresh steamed clams—are rendered with care. Add in the Craftsman-bungalow setting and the nightly party the dining room and patio become, and you have not just a wonderful culinary destination but a getaway and respite.

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Logan Circle.

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.